AN at the end of the chapter.

ARYA

The Raven arrived this morning, it's feathers as black as the moonless night. With trembling fingers, Arya slowly untied the parchment from the raven's leg. She was no fool, a bird with wings as dark as the night only meant one thing; bad news. Septa Mordane's voice rang in her head as she cautiously opened the letter; dark wings, dark words.

The letter was from Lord Stannis' right hand man, Davos Seaworth. His penmanship was sloppy and resembled that of a child's but it was still legible. The stamp of an onion was used to seal the letter. If not for the dire circumstances that may have come along with this letter, Arya would have laughed. Lord Davos was born a common man without a penny to his name. He had made a living by coveting valuable items to sell. One evening he was caught smuggling onions by Lord Stannis Baratheon. As punishment, Lord Stannis removed the distal digit on each of Davos' fingers. Ironically ever since that night, Davos Seaworth had been nothing but faithful to Lord Stannis. After years of servitude, Davos Seaworth rose on the social ladder from being Lord Stannis' most trusted man, to being awarded Lordship and briefly even being titled as Hand of the King. Lord Davos was allowed to craft his own sigil for his new house of Seaworth. He could have picked any creature but, Lord Davos had chosen an onion, for he claimed the night he was caught smuggling, was the night he turned everything around for his family and himself. His son Devan, had been appointed to Lord Stannis' personal squire and the Seaworth's were now a great name in highborn houses. They had even been left the vast land of Dragonstone, after Stannis left it to take Storm's End.

Cautiously, Arya unsealed the parchment and began reading the contents of the letter, addressed to her husband.

Dear Lord Gendry Baratheon,

I regret to inform you that your Uncle, Lord Stannis Baratheon of Storms End has passed away.

As rightful heir, you and your family are required to travel to Storms End where you may begin carrying out your duties as the new liege Lord.

Lord Stannis Baratheon has given me very strict instructions before his passing. His personal squire, Devan Seaworth and myself will be happy to assist you in your duties.

We shall make arrangements for your arrival and expect to see you on the new moon.

Sincerely,

Lord Davos Seaworth of Dragonstone.

Arya had half a mind of chucking the letter into the fire and watching the flames slowly burn the parchment, erasing all evidence of the blasted letter. She was furious that Lord Stannis had been stupid enough to get himself killed before conceiving a son. If Stannis had a child, Gendry would have never been heir to his stupid kingdom and they would not have to leave Winterfell. It wasn't fair. Neither Arya nor Gendry wanted the land, why couldn't they just give it to someone else?

It was times like this when Arya gravely missed Braavos. There were many things she loved about the free cities like: it's warm climates, their delicacies, the salty smell of the ocean, their customs and tradition, her friends in the happy port; the list went on and on. But, the one thing she missed most about Braavos was her freedom. She was an acolyte for the House of Black and White because she chose to be, she was able to roam the free cities whenever and wherever she liked and no one forced her to turn into something that she did not want to be. The faceless men had been a very strict, colt-like group but, Arya did have the freedom to leave whenever she wished.

When she chose to return back to Winterfell, Arya knew she was giving up her freedom. She had to follow the proper Westori customs under the governance of the new Queen, Danereys Targaryen. She had almost been forced to marry the Bolton bastard, she had to wear dresses whenever she was in the presence of other Lord and Ladies, outside of Winterfell and even though she loved Gendry, she was forced to marry him as well. Winterfell wasn't so bad, she could wear whatever she pleased, no one said anything (at least to her face) about her un-lady like behaviour and she had the opportunity to fight in battles like the other men. And now, once more she was forced to give something up and Arya detested it; she would be forced to leave everything behind because of stupid titles. The Gods were mocking her once more; why couldn't she have been lowborn or better yet, why couldn't she have been born a bastard? She would have never been expected to live in a castle and carry on the duties of a proper lady. Gendry could have owned a forge and she could have taught others the skill of water dancing for coin. They could live together in a small and dainty home with their children. Nothing would have been extravagant but, they would have had their freedom and they could have been happy. Actually they were happy until Lord Stannis died.

After seething for about an hour and chucking random items against the wall of the rookery, in her rage, Arya stormed off to her chambers. Gendry was still sprawled on the giant featherbed as naked as his name day. She had not seen that much of him in quite a while. He had normally been cautious about proposing anything sexual towards her ever since the rape but, Arya knew he preferred sleeping in his small clothes or nothing at all, as the clothes were too restricting. After the rape, he had been sleeping fully clothed and Arya noticed how his garments would irritate him at night but, as of recent Arya had taken to sleep in the day time and she stayed awake at night, so with her continued absence Gendry must have taken to sleeping nude once more. Even though Brandon was now at Riverrun and their nightly lessons had seized, Arya had found it difficult to return back to her normal routine. For this reason she and Nymeria had volunteered to take up guard duty at night. There wasn't much to the job, they would just roam around the castle or stand watch at the gates but, typically she'd drink with the other knights as they made japes and stared into the horizon for an attack that would never come.

She bit her lip as she stared at him laying on the bed in front of her. She inwardly cursed herself for the desire building up in her stomach that she momentarily forgot about her rage. Arya shook the feeling out of her system, now wasn't the time for settling her desires, she had to face the issue at hand. Arya plopped herself on the giant featherbed and nudged Gendry's elbow. Gendry had always been easy to stir; his eyes immediately fluttered open and he dug his shoulders into the feather bed, to push himself into a sitting position. He was covered in a fine layer of sweat his messy bang covered his brilliant blue eyes. His beard was dishevelled , giving Gendry a rather rugged and sexy appearance.

She was stuck in awe for a moment, mesmerized by Gendry's beauty. She always knew he was handsome; with his looks and fine build, he could have settled for any woman he wanted. Sometimes she questioned why a man like him would settle for her. As far as Arya was concerned, she was ugly as ever with the scars and burns covering her body; she even had a large scar dominating half her face. Arya was plain compared to other girls like her sister and Maragery Tyrell. She vaguely remembered how Jeyne Heddle looked but, she remembered that she was beautiful and curvy unlike Arya. Sometimes she could not fathom why Gendry had chosen her over Jeyne. Gendry never wanted to be a Lord, he preferred a hammer and a good forge over wine and tittles. So why did he give up everything for someone as ugly and stupid as her?

"Arya" Gendry mumbled, as he rubbed the crust out of his eyes.

His voice snapped her back into the present. Angrily, Arya tossed the letter to his direction. Gendry unfolded the parchment and began to read the letter. Arya impatiently waited for him to finish reading the contents. She knew Gendry had still been learning to read but, Arya could have read the letter twenty times over by now and Gendry had still not finished reading. After a few more minutes, Gendry pointed to the second letter of the second word and asked, "what is that letter again?"

Arya huffed in annoyance. She should have understood, Gendry had been born a lowborn bastard and he did not have the opportunity to learn his letters as a child. Arya had only come across a few lowborns that did know how to read and write. When she was a cupbearer for Lord Tywin, many of his knights struggled with their letters, there were very few knights that could actually read. So she really should have understood but, Arya was much too angry. "It says, your stupid uncle died and since he was too stupid to conceive another heir after his stupid daughter died, we now have to move to stupid Storms End because now you're their new stupid Lord and we'll have to leave Winterfell to go to the stupid South because, you're the stupid bastard of the stupid Robert Baratheon. You stupid bull-headed boy."

Gendry sighed, "I'm a bloody Lord because of you, so why are you mad at me?"

"Because I don't want to leave my home!" Arya exclaimed.

"So stay."

Arya was taken aback, she did not expect that, "wha-what?" she stuttered.

"Stay" Gendry repeated. "I'll take Arry with me. He will be Lord once I die, so he will have to travel to Storm's End as well. Justin will not be able to come, so he and Ned will stay here with you. Robb and Brandon are at Riverrun and when they come back, they can decide where they want to stay."

"But what about us?" Arya squeaked out.

Gendry sighed and pressed his forehead against hers. He cradled her cheek with his right hand while the other hand lay on her waist. "I have to go to Storms End, there's nothing I can do to change that. I'll talk to Lord Davos and find out if there is any way that someone may take my place, perhaps Stannis has another person to pass down the title to but, for now I have no choice but to leave. I want to take you with me but, I'm not going to ask you to leave Winterfell."

Arya bit her lip and looked at Gendry. She couldn't stand the thought of being away from him for so long but, she could not leave Winterfell. The last time she left her home to venture South she had lost nearly half her family and almost herself in the process. Gendry was right, Justin could not come to Storm's End which meant Ned wouldn't be coming either and she could not spare to be so far away from Robb and Brandon. Again the Starks were forced to separate for the realm. Arya wanted no part in the game of thrones, none of her family did. They were all forced into the game and the Starks had many casualties as a result of the stupid game. So many lives were lost just for something as stupid as a throne made out of swords that no one could hope to keep for long.

History was repeating itself once more. Arya now understood how her mother felt, all those years ago when she, Sansa and her father ventured to King's Landing. For some reason Arya could not shake the feeling of impending doom out of her system. She felt if Gendry left, he would never come back, not alive at least.

"I don't want you to go." Arya pleaded.

Gendry sighed and brought his lips down to hers for a tender chaste kiss. The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds and was just a simple peck but, it spread a warmth throughout Arya's body.

Gendry tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears and cupped her face tenderly. "I thought you died when the Hound took you away from me" Gendry admitted, "when you came back, alive and unscathed... well for the most part" Gendry chuckled as he brushed his thumb over her scar. "I vowed that I would never let you out of my sight again. Though now... I don't want you to leave your home. You spent your entire life trying to return here and back to your family, I can't force you to leave it because of me."

Arya smiled at him. Gendry always understood how she felt, ever since they were children. Arya curled her arms around his neck and brought him down for another kiss. Her lips slanted over his, pressing soft feather-like kisses onto his lips. Gendry responded immediately, he surprised her when he wrapped an arm over her waist, pressing her to him. She could feel his erection pressing on her thigh, it sent waves of pleasure rippling throughout her body. Arya traced her tongue softly on the rims of his lips before Gendry opened his mouth and allowed her to explore him with her tongue.

His hands found their way under her tunic and he roughly untucked them from her breeches. "Are you sure?" Gendry whispered between there kisses.

As a response Arya helped him pull it off and they tumbled onto the featherbed.

A/N: Okay I'm super sorry that I haven't updated this fic in forever. Honestly i've just been so preoccupied with my other fic, The White Walkers that I completely neglected this one. I'll try to update this more regularly so you won't have to wait forever again, I do already have the rest of the story planned out for this and I believe it shall come to an end in perhaps 10 more chapters, give or take a few. Thank you so much for your support, love you all :D